Crossroads:the Path Chosen

Happy New Year to all. The new year. Hmm, resolutions, changes and new prospects. We make them, break them and resolve to go for that dream at the beginning of a new year don’t we? I know I do. Except this time, I started planning prior to this coming year. In my last article, I said that I didn’t want to work in the nursing field any longer, but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. After much soul-searching and being as honest with myself as possible, I have chosen my path.

First, I’m going back to school to obtain my Master’s in Social Work. Yep, I have a degree in Social Work, underutilized, but it’s there. When I went for a degree in Social Work, some of my co-workers questioned my choice. What was I going to do? Stop nursing? Not even. I saw early in my nursing career that I was not just caring for an illness, but the whole person–and the family also. An ill person could care less about taking, say, their blood pressure medicine if they can’t afford to buy food or pay rent. The background in Social Work gave me extra tools to use when working with patients and their families. And as I was constantly informed that I was not a social worker, I determined that, well, I would become one. So there!

So what will I do with the degree? Get licensed so that I can become a counselor. My last job as a nurse for child and adolescent sex offenders, opened my eyes to the fact that I wanted to do more than just pass out pills. I want to work with children and families and in order to do that, I need to be a LC SW-Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Two years from now, the Universe willing, I will have that degree and license. It’s a scary thought, changing my career at this time in my life, but if I’m ever going to be happy, I have to do the right thing for the right person (ME) at the right time (NOW).

Second, I have stepped out of the hospital setting. I have accepted a job as a casemanger for hospice patients. Death and dying, now that’s a subject lots of people don’t like to think about, much less talk about, yet it’s the area I choose. I will be able to use my nursing skills, my social work tools (for resources), and my life experiences to assist the families that I will be working with. It’s exciting, scary and such a wonderful challenge. And a much needed change. Remember the African Proverb,” Peace comes from knowing you are doing the right thing?” I am at peace for the first time in a long while.